Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with large clothing companies based in the EU who have stores in the UK on their future relationship with the UK after the UK leaves the European Union.

This department engages regularly with businesses across a range of sectors including clothing retailers who have stores in the UK. Many of these businesses also have a European base, and we understand their concerns about retaining frictionless trade.

This is why Government has been clear that the best outcome is for the UK to leave the EU with a deal and why, following months of intensive work and detailed discussions, we proposed a third option for our future economic relationship, based on the frictionless trade in goods.

At March European Council, the UK and EU agreed that during the implementation period, the UK would be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements, including trade agreements.

This provides certainty and confidence that there will be no disruption to existing relationships underpinned by international agreements as we move into the Implementation Period.